Serving as the senior pastor of several different churches, along with a few associate roles, I have had my fair share of deacons, and congregational leaders question my decisions and leadership. I fondly remember having a chair of the deacons berate me in front of a Fellowship Hall of members on a Wednesday night because … Continue reading
I can just close my eyes and remember church business meetings of my childhood, in which the idea of women becoming deacons was shot down as some angry middle-aged man, who clearly had control issues, reading passages from the writings of the Apostle Paul on why women should remain silent, not teach, and certainly submit … Continue reading
By JJ Dickinson This semester for the midterm in my Baptist class, I wrote a children’s book about important women of the Baptist faith. Some of them, like Anne Hutchinson and Beth Moore, I knew a lot about. Others, like Martha Stearns Marshall, I had never heard of before. Each woman played an important role … Continue reading
By Laura Stephens-Reed During a gathering of my field education cohort during seminary, the leaders facilitated a discussion about the meaning of the Lord’s Supper. For most people in the room, communion was about welcome, nourishment, and grace. I had a different take. In the church of my youth, we had the Lord’s Supper once … Continue reading
By Sara Crocker One of the most meaningful and formational skills I’ve learned in my seminary experience at Central Baptist Theological Seminary thus far is how to read and interpret the ancient Scriptures from various perspectives and social locations. Recently, my New Testament professor, Dr. David May asked us to read Hisako Kinukawa’s exegesis of … Continue reading
By Joya Moore I have been thinking deeply about the experience of women in America since the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. I honestly had not anticipated a woman occupying the Vice Presidential office for a long time, so to watch her take the oath and experience the ways in … Continue reading
By Aaron Weaver DECATUR, Ga. — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Thriving in Ministry Initiative is now accepting applications for the second set of cohort groups This four-year initiative, which is funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, aims to address challenges that pastors face in their congregational settings. Participants will build their capacity to … Continue reading
By Ashleigh Bugg Georgetown Baptist Church in Georgetown, Kentucky, commemorated their 30th anniversary of ordaining women deacons. The month-long celebration featured various events including a service officiated by the Rev. Heather Burke on November 11. They honored Maribeth Hambrick, one of the first women elected as a deacon in the church, at Windsor Gardens, an assisted living … Continue reading
By Elket Rodríguez The pastors on the front lines of Fellowship Southwest’s Immigrant Relief Ministry do not labor alone. Their strongest allies—their spouses—support, encourage and fortify them as they fight hunger, deprivation, exploitation, injustice and vulnerability all along the U.S.-Mexico border. These women’s tenacity, commitment and passion is unparalleled. They willingly sacrifice most of their … Continue reading
By Rev. Rebecca Caswell-Speight During my sophomore year at Georgetown College, I heard God’s call for me to go into ministry. The call that day is still one of the strongest feelings I have ever experienced. Alone in the in the middle of my dorm room, God spoke to me. I sobbed, I sat and … Continue reading
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